Is this guy for real?

I stole this from the guys over at Marginal Revolution, but I don't think they'll mind ...

I see that some guy at MIT has a list of rules for "How to Think: Managing brain resources in an age of complexity." Okay the title alone is enough to send me screaming for the hills. Curiosity, though, led me to investigate just what sort of things this guy supposes will help one think. For the most part, they're the usual bull: set goals, learn from mistakes, etc. Number 10 (keep it simple) I found to be rather interesting as it seemed to contradict some of his earlier rules (e.g., document everything obsessively), but all-in-all nothing really surprised me too much about his list. Mind you I think his rules are fine and dandy if you want to teach people to be organized, but I don't see how they help you "think." Still, I had no reason to blog about this guy and his rules until I saw the second of his two "practical notes" that followed his list of rules:

The second practical note: I find it really useful to write and draw while talking with someone, composing conversation summaries on pieces of paper or pages of notepads. I often use plenty of color annotation to highlight salient points. At the end of the conversation, I digitally photograph the piece of paper so that I capture the entire flow of the conversation and the thoughts that emerged. The person I've conversed with usually gets to keep the original piece of paper, and the digital photograph is uploaded to my computer for keyword tagging and archiving. This way I can call up all the images, sketches, ideas, references, and action items from a brief note that I took during a five-minute meeting at a coffee shop years ago--at a touch, on my laptop.

Is it just me or is this guy INSANE?!?! Who would do this? Further, even though I'm giving a great big "more power to you" to this guy, why in the world is he recommending this madness for others?!?! Though I've already yelled about it, I repeat -- this is an organizational tips, NOT a way to improve thinking skills!

Finally, the most ironic point -- remember rule #10: Keep it simple! Yeah, simple is the first thing I thought after reading that practical note.